Contents

Original "Murderers'
Row"

The term was originally coined in 1918 by a sportswriter to
describe the 1918 pre-Babe
Ruth Yankee lineup, a team with quality hitters such as Frank
Baker and Wally
Pipp, which led the American League in home runs with 45. A
1918 newspaper article described it: “New York fans have come to
know a section of the Yankees’ batting order as ‘murderers’ row.’
It is composed of the first six players in the batting
order—Gilhooley, Peckinpaugh, Baker, Pratt, Pipp, and Bodie. This
sextet has been hammering the offerings of all comers.”[1]

1927
Yankees

The term was eternally associated with the advent of the Ruth
and Lou Gehrig Yankee
teams beginning in the mid-1920s, and is commonly recognized to
refer specifically to the core of the 1927 Yankee hitting
lineup.

Owner Jacob
Ruppert is the man most often credited for building the team,
although general manager Ed
Barrow may have had as much to do with it. In a July series
against the Washington Senators, the Yankees beat
their opponents 21-1 in one game and prompted Senators’ first
baseman Joe Judge to
say, “Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out.
I wish the season was over.”

The 1927 Yankees batted .307, slugged .489, scored 975 runs, and
outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs. Center fielder Earle Combs had a
career best year, batting .356 with 231 hits, left fielder Bob Meusel batted .337
with 103 RBIs, and second baseman Tony Lazzeri drove in 102 runs. Gehrig
batted .373, with 218 hits, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 47 home runs, a
then record 175 RBIs, slugged at .765, and was voted A.L. MVP. Ruth
amassed a .356 batting average, 164 RBIs, 158 runs scored, walked
137 times, and slugged .772. Most notably, his 60 home runs that
year broke his own record and remained the Major League mark for 34
years until Roger
Maris broke it.

The pitching staff led the league in ERA at 3.20, and included
Waite Hoyt, who went
22-7, which tied for the league lead, and Herb Pennock, who went 19-8. Wilcy Moore
won 16 as a reliever. The 1927 Yankees would eventually send six
players along with manager Miller Huggins and president Ed Barrow to the Baseball Hall of
Fame; only the 1928 Yankees had more with 9 players along with
Huggins and Barrow. Three other Yankee pitchers had ERAs under 3.00
that season. After sweeping the Pirates in the Series, the Yankees
repeated the feat by sweeping the Cardinals in the 1928 World
Series. The Yankees remain the only team to ever sweep the
World Series in consecutive years; the Yankee teams of 1938-1939 and 1998-1999
repeated the feat.